Giant Bomb News

Valve Is Not Making a Steam Console, At Least Not Any Time Soon

Valve PR pointman Doug Lombardi shoots down earlier rumors of Valve's plans to get into the console business.

Rumors have been kicking around for the last few days about the possibility of Valve taking its currently computer-only Steam service to consoles--specifically, a console of their own. The original report, which came via tech site The Verge, cited various anonymous sources as it spun out the possibility of Valve contracting an outside hardware maker to essentially make a Steam set-top box for home televisions. The device would be less a traditional console than a way for Steam users to browse the Steam service and play their purchased games on the television, should they feel so inclined.

There really aren't any good images to attach to this, so here's Gabe Newell's bitchin' beard again.

Well, forget about any of that, because apparently it's all lies. Sort of.

Speaking to Kotaku's Stephen Totillo at GDC, Valve's longtime mouthpiece Doug Lombardi put the kibosh on the notion of Valve getting into the console business any time in the foreseeable future, explaining that yes, Valve has been contracting some new hardware from partners, but solely for the purposes of testing the upcoming Steam Big Picture Mode UI system, a new interface designed to let players more easily hook their PCs up to their televisions and play their various Steam games.

"All of that is stuff that we're working on, but it's a long way from Valve shipping any sort of hardware," he said.

Most of the console-centric news seemed focused especially on controller patents and various things related to biometrics, something that Valve has said before that it likes to use when playtesting certain games. Lombardi confirmed that these are all things Valve has worked on in various capacities, including in conjunction with the upcoming Big Picture UI, but that it has nothing to do with a new console that's coming down the pipes from the company.

Of course, ever the talented PR man, Lombardi didn't shut the door on the company ever developing something like what was reported in the Verge story. When asked by Totillo if maybe someday, long beyond this GDC or this year's E3 or whatever other near-future landmarks one might use to announce a new console, Valve maybe, just maybe, might actually decide to produce retail hardware, Lombardi simply replied, "I think that's accurate."

Guys? I'm actually a little confused on this one. Is this a happy ending or a sad ending? I suppose if nothing else, it is an ending, and perhaps that's enough.

Rumors have been kicking around for the last few days about the possibility of Valve taking its currently computer-only Steam service to consoles--specifically, a console of their own. The original report, which came via tech site The Verge, cited various anonymous sources as it spun out the possibility of Valve contracting an outside hardware maker to essentially make a Steam set-top box for home televisions. The device would be less a traditional console than a way for Steam users to browse the Steam service and play their purchased games on the television, should they feel so inclined.

There really aren't any good images to attach to this, so here's Gabe Newell's bitchin' beard again.

Well, forget about any of that, because apparently it's all lies. Sort of.

Speaking to Kotaku's Stephen Totillo at GDC, Valve's longtime mouthpiece Doug Lombardi put the kibosh on the notion of Valve getting into the console business any time in the foreseeable future, explaining that yes, Valve has been contracting some new hardware from partners, but solely for the purposes of testing the upcoming Steam Big Picture Mode UI system, a new interface designed to let players more easily hook their PCs up to their televisions and play their various Steam games.

"All of that is stuff that we're working on, but it's a long way from Valve shipping any sort of hardware," he said.

Most of the console-centric news seemed focused especially on controller patents and various things related to biometrics, something that Valve has said before that it likes to use when playtesting certain games. Lombardi confirmed that these are all things Valve has worked on in various capacities, including in conjunction with the upcoming Big Picture UI, but that it has nothing to do with a new console that's coming down the pipes from the company.

Of course, ever the talented PR man, Lombardi didn't shut the door on the company ever developing something like what was reported in the Verge story. When asked by Totillo if maybe someday, long beyond this GDC or this year's E3 or whatever other near-future landmarks one might use to announce a new console, Valve maybe, just maybe, might actually decide to produce retail hardware, Lombardi simply replied, "I think that's accurate."

Guys? I'm actually a little confused on this one. Is this a happy ending or a sad ending? I suppose if nothing else, it is an ending, and perhaps that's enough.

It always just sounded like a PC to me. How else could it have allowed Origin and other competing software to be installed, as was indicated in the rumors? How else could it run the back catalog of games on Steam? It was pretty obvious that they were just describing hooking your computer up to a TV with a Steam UI that's optimized for that, which isn't really anything new to get excited about.

@iAmJohn: Valve seem to still have it as an option, so.. Idiots? I'm actually hoping it will happen. Would, if nothing else, give pc gamers one platform that, for the most part, will run games without problems on day one. I usually don't have a problem on my PC, but game forums always get flooded on day one with people not being able to run games.

Good, it doesn't make any sense. Consoles are a loss leader which enable the real revenue on the software side. Valve already sells a metric fuckton of software and to all appearances that's not going to change anytime soon.. Why sink capital into hardware? Makes no sense.

I think we will mostlikely see Valve entering into agreementes with, Dell, HP et al. to preinstall Steam on gaming focused Media PC. The improblemts in intergrated graphics, Windows 8 and Steam big screen UI make this an ever more attractive option.

You want to play pc games on your tv? Have a tv that isn't 10 years old and buy an HDMI cord. Seriously... why would they ever think of making a console? The only smart thing to do would be to align themselves with the next generation of consoles and be an app for microsoft and/or sony.

Some say we are seeing the end of the handheld gaming device as we know it -- being replaced by phones and tablets -- casual gaming. Perhaps, in some regard, with computing power increasing the way it is (example iPad3), we will, in the not-to-distant future, see the end of the console as we know it. Not that it will all be replaced by casual gaming, but the opposite.

It could be that Valve is looking to not exactly make a console, but not exactly make a PC, either, but some sort of hybrid that fills both niches.

Good, it doesn't make any sense. Consoles are a loss leader which enable the real revenue on the software side. Valve already sells a metric fuckton of software and to all appearances that's not going to change anytime soon.. Why sink capital into hardware? Makes no sense.

This

Valve is comprised of some very smart people and this never sounded all that smart. There are plenty of ways they can expand their strangle hold on the PC downloadables market without the need to produce custom and extremely niche hardware that is only of interest as a novelty to people who would never actually buy one if it really existed.

judging by how long it takes valve to put out HL2 part 3 im guessing maybe 15-20 years we might see one ... but im sure a person can make there own steam console ... i mean how hard can it be to stick a spare computer under the TV :D